Mechanical rumbling and roaring thundered in Birrell Liva's ears, and the extreme heat made her grit her teeth in agony. But she was still piloting Thundercloud. She was still fighting.
"If we fail and falter! It is the Fallen Emperor's might!" she recited the Emperor's Prayer, her words slurred, every syllable etched into her heart. "Prayer cleanses the soul! Pain scourges the flesh!"
Thundercloud's upper monitor, now entirely crimson, reflected a surging mass of fireballs—the handiwork of the Demons. The pink ones died and became blue. The blue ones died and became orange.
They hurled flames of resentment and Anger, swarming toward Liva beneath the shroud of mist. The female sergeant heard herself screaming. The pain of overheating and the Machine Spirit's ceaseless surging lust for Destruction were tearing her mind apart piece by piece; even the ends of her nerves burned with searing pain.
But she could not fall here. She absolutely could not fall here. And so Thundercloud raised its right hand once more. The Power Claw killed several Demons lunging at her with a vicious sweep, and the high-energy cannon in its palm flashed again, leaving a huge scorched mark across the ground.
"Suppressants injecting. Remaining suppressant reserves: three. Sergeant Birrell Liva, you are approaching your link limit. Please end piloting as soon as possible. Repeat, Sergeant Birrell Liva, you are approaching your link limit. Please end piloting as soon as possible."
"No!" Liva endured the pain and rejected the Glyph Array's goodwill. "The battle isn't over yet!"
"Sergeant Birrell Liva, your sanity is collapsing, and your bodily functions are approaching their limit," the Glyph Array announced coldly. "In accordance with Safety Regulation Seven, I have the authority to terminate your piloting when you are on the verge of death."
As those words faded through the neural